And to Aaron were born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
This verse drops four names into the middle of a census. The count comes at the edge of the promised land, and Aaron's four sons appear inside the tribe of Levi. The next verse tells us two of them were already dead. So why does the register of the priestly family keep the record of its own disaster?
The list belongs to the tribe of Levi, and inside Levi stands the priestly family. One writer notes why these names appear here:
Last of all, from Kohath come Aaron and his priestly family, Moses, and Miriam. Aaron's four sons are named, and so is the death of Nadab and Abihu. Nowhere is evil more obvious than in the tribe of Levi. Nowhere is the victory of grace over it clearer. Knowing both those depths and those heights is well suited to produce the effective ministers and joyful worshippers this tribe pictures.
Nadab and Abihu were not outsiders. God had set them apart as priests, and that is what makes their end so severe:
God set them apart to serve Him as priests. Yet the very first time they acted as priests for Israel, they offered unauthorized fire, which the Lord had not commanded, and fire from God struck them down... That fire was never to go out, and the fire Abihu should have used was surely the fire on the bronze altar... Everywhere else we read that everything was to be done "as the Lord commanded Moses." But of what Nadab and Abihu did, Scripture says plainly that it was not commanded. So it was sin, and it dishonoured God.
The same entry draws a lesson from this. Not every kind of worship pleases God. Outward worship is not enough; it must match what God has revealed. Worship "separated from the sacrifice of Christ" is only "the energy of nature, and is offensive to God."
The two who fell were not the least privileged of the four. One writer draws out the pattern:
The two who died under judgment, almost as soon as God made them priests, had no excuse for their sin... It often happens that failure is most obvious in those who are given the greatest privilege.
Eleazar and Ithamar are not spare parts. One writer finds a message in what their names mean:
Here we do find terrible failure and the judgment of God. The first two sons are cut off. The third son is Eleazar, whose name means "help of God." That name speaks of the resurrection-power by which God acts when all human power has come to an end. Ithamar, whose name means "where the palm tree is," follows Eleazar. His name seems to point to the uprightness and fruitfulness that Scripture keeps linking with the palm tree, for "the righteous flourish like the palm tree." (Psalm 92:12.)
Both surviving sons had real work to do, and their two families later took turns at the high priesthood:
Ithamar had charge of the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried parts of the tabernacle. The high priesthood came into Ithamar's family in Eli. It returned to Eleazar's descendants in Zadok, when Solomon removed Abiathar from office.
This family carries a warning, but it also carries comfort, and it points beyond itself:
There is comfort as well as warning in Aaron's family. How beautiful to see Eleazar step into his father's place when Aaron died!... The honour of the priesthood, through these two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, continued as long as the priesthood "after the order of Aaron" lasted. Now another Great High Priest has arisen, after the order of Melchizedek and not after the order of Aaron. And in Him there is no failure.
- Counted — The census names all four of Aaron's sons, so the priestly family enters the record with its history attached.
- Cut off — Nadab and Abihu died because they brought fire God had not commanded. Worship that people invent is not worship God accepts.
- Cautioned — Failure is often most obvious in those given the most privilege. Nearness to holy things protects no one who is careless.
- Continued — Eleazar means "help of God" and Ithamar means "where the palm tree is." God carried His service on through the two sons left.
- Completed — Aaron's line rose and fell through Eli and Zadok. Another Priest has now arisen, after the order of Melchizedek, and in Him there is no failure.
And Nadab and Abihu died, when they presented strange fire before Jehovah.
In the second counting of Israel, the list of Aaron's family pauses to explain why only two of his four sons carry on. The two eldest had already died before the Lord, and the census keeps that on record — a reminder of what God asks of those who come near Him.
The judgment fell right after God set up the priesthood.
Here we have what, alas, is always the case with man. The first day the priesthood is established, it comes short of the glory of God. Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire, acting as natural men in their relationship with God, not founding their service on the altar of sacrifice, and they die.
Older translations call it "strange fire" where the ESV says "unauthorized." The fault was not in their equipment but in one part of it.
We note here that as Aaron's sons they had the right of approach. We see too that God does not find fault with the censers or the incense, but with what came with them — "the fire." What brought out the fragrance was the fault, and this led to the rejection of it all. Every priest should have known the fire that burned continually on the bronze altar... There could be no approach to God apart from the death of the victim upon this bronze altar. And the fire needed to produce the fragrance of the incense had to be taken from off this altar.
Notice what the charge against them does not say.
The sin is will-worship — "strange fire, which He had not commanded them" — the will of man dictating in spiritual things, a sin that people now think little of... Liberty is never found in following our own wills, but in obedience to what God has given us... Yet in Nadab and Abihu the sin is not said to have been in doing what God had forbidden, but simply in doing what He had not commanded.
Everything about these men looked right, and the fire that killed them came from an unexpected place.
Here we see men who seem to be preparing to worship God. There is the fire, the incense, the censer, and the priest. And note, they were not false or counterfeit priests. They were true sons of Aaron, part of the priestly house God had truly set apart, wearing the priestly robes He appointed. Yet they were struck dead — and by whom? By Him whom we call our God and Father!... The fire which consumed these false worshippers came from off the mercy-seat. It was not from the top of Mount Sinai that this fire came, but out "from before the Lord."
Moses gave the reason for the judgment, and Aaron answered with silence.
Moses explained to Aaron, and to us, why God stepped in to judge: "This is what the LORD has said: 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.' And Aaron held his peace" (Lev. 10:3). Those who are nearest to God have the greatest privilege. With it comes a matching responsibility to uphold the honour and glory of the Lord in their testimony. Wilful disobedience to God's commandment brings severe judgment.
What made them do it? One writer offers a guess and then refuses to press it.
Their act may have been due to intoxication, judging from the ninth verse of the tenth chapter, but of this we cannot be sure. What a swift and awful judgment on those in the place of greatest privilege, who dare to approach God in their own way! How terrible to see the eldest son, the one in line for the wonderful office of High Priest, cut off in a moment!
The same test applies to worship today.
The incense was right but the fire was wrong... They may have thought that if the incense was right any fire would do to bring out its fragrance. But no, the fire must be God's fire and not man's. Let us learn from this that though in our worship the words we use are altogether right, if the energy behind their utterance is of the flesh, all is wrong. Worship must be by the Spirit of God.
The census shows the priesthood going on through the two younger brothers.
Nadab and Abihu were judged for their sin. And so in the priestly family we again see that the history of the natural man comes first and then is entirely set aside. After Nadab and Abihu come Eleazar and Ithamar.
- Nearness — as Aaron's sons they had every right to come near. The closer the place, the heavier the duty to honour God there.
- Fire — the censer and incense were faultless. The fire was wrong, because the only accepted fire came from the altar where the victim had died.
- Will — their sin was not doing what God forbade. It was doing what He had not commanded.
- Judgment — the fire came out from before the Lord, from the mercy-seat itself. Aaron heard the reason and kept silent.
- Carrying on — the natural line is set aside, the priesthood goes on through Eleazar and Ithamar, and the warning stays on record for everyone who worships.